Credo | ||||
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Studio album by | ||||
Released | 21 March 2011 | |||
Recorded | 2010 | |||
Studio | Human League (Sheffield, England) | |||
Genre | Synth-pop | |||
Label | Wall of Sound | |||
Producer | I Monster | |||
The Human League chronology | ||||
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Singles from Credo | ||||
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Credo is the ninth studio album by English synth-pop band the Human League, released on 21 March 2011 by Wall of Sound. It was their first studio album since Secrets (2001). [1] It was produced by fellow Sheffield act I Monster. [2]
The first single from the album, "Night People" was released on 22 November 2010. Follow-up single "Never Let Me Go" was released on 1 March 2011. "Egomaniac" served as the second single in Germany, Austria and Switzerland because the Human League secured a slot on a major German TV show for a performance of "Egomaniac". The TV programme aired on 4 March and the single was released the same day. In those three territories the album itself was released on 11 March to narrow the gap between the TV airing and the album being available. In the rest of Europe, the album was released on 21 March to narrow the gap between the release in Germany, Austria and Switzerland and the rest of the continent. The third single, "Sky" was released on 25 July 2011.
Credo was released digitally in the United States on 16 August 2011, followed by a physical release on 23 August. [3]
In 2012, the album was awarded a silver certification from the Independent Music Companies Association (IMPALA), [4] denoting sales in excess of 20,000 copies across Europe.
Following the commercial underperformance of their previous album, Secrets , [5] the band decided to concentrate on their live appearances and forego a contract with a major label. [6] After seven years of working live venues, Philip Oakey and Rob Barton decided the band needed new material. [6] These new tracks caught the attention of Mark Jones, founder of Wall of Sound. [7]
Teaming up with Sheffield-based electronic act I Monster, the band decided to cater the album mainly toward the dance scene. [6]
The band decided to retain an earlier feel to some of the tracks, including "Privilege" (which they wanted to "sit next to Being Boiled" and "fixed in 1978"), but welcomed I Monster's heavy resequencing on others, including "Sky". [6] Oakey notes I Monster's contribution to the album stating in an interview with John Doran of The Quietus , "The first thing he gave us back, 'Sky' we just went, 'Wow, how has he turned that into this?' They've got a really good collection of synths." [6]
The album has received mixed reviews scoring 58 at Metacritic. [8] Mojo magazine said "Will their return to recording prove their relevance, three decades after 1981's epochal, synapse-sparkling Dare!? The hi-gloss but uneven Credo only partially convinces." [9] Music Week compared Credo to "a latter period Pet Shop Boys album." [10]
Favourable reviews included Gay Times , which awarded Credo five out of five and called it an "incredible pop offering". [11] Mixmag praised the album for being "crisp, dynamic and upbeat, with contemporary electronic pop sheen". [12] Caroline Sullivan from The Guardian remarked that "Credo sounds like nobody but the Human League: electronics gurgle and whirr, and some fairly memorable melodies surge and flow. The production is sleeker than before." [13] MusicOMH declared, "Credo, is a lot of fun, marred only by occasionally bad lyrics. It feels like a defiance of time." and that "it still sounds completely fresh and absolutely The Human League." They also stated that the album is "beguiling". [14]
The three singles released from the album failed to chart, however "Never Let Me Go" received substantial airplay on BBC Radio 2. The album itself charted at No. 44 on the UK Albums Chart. A double vinyl edition was released on 25 July 2011.
All tracks are written by Robert Barton and Philip Oakey, except where noted. [15]
Chart (2011) | Peak position |
---|---|
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders) [16] | 85 |
Belgian Heatseekers Albums (Ultratop Wallonia) [17] | 3 |
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100) [18] | 57 |
Scottish Albums (OCC) [19] | 62 |
UK Albums (OCC) [20] | 44 |
UK Independent Albums (OCC) [21] | 9 |
The Human League are an English synth-pop band formed in Sheffield in 1977. Initially an experimental electronic outfit, the group signed to Virgin Records in 1979 and later attained widespread commercial success with their third album Dare in 1981 after restructuring their lineup. The album contained four hit singles, including the UK/US number one hit "Don't You Want Me". The band received the Brit Award for Best British Breakthrough Act in 1982. Further hits followed throughout the 1980s and into the 1990s, including "Mirror Man", "(Keep Feeling) Fascination", "The Lebanon", "Human" and "Tell Me When".
Travelogue is the second full-length studio album released by British synthpop group The Human League, released in May 1980. It was the last album with founding members Ian Craig Marsh and Martyn Ware, as they would leave to form Heaven 17 later that year.
Crash is the fifth studio album by English synth-pop band the Human League, released on 8 September 1986 by Virgin Records. The album would provide the band with their second US number-one single, "Human", the same year. It was produced by the American production team of Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis, who also wrote several tracks.
Philip Oakey is a British singer, songwriter and record producer. He is best known as the lead singer, songwriter, and cofounder of British synth-pop band the Human League. Aside from the Human League, Oakey has enjoyed an extensive solo music career and has collaborated with numerous other artists and producers.
Dare is the third studio album by English synth-pop band The Human League, first released in the United Kingdom in October 1981 then subsequently in the US in mid-1982. The album was recorded between March and September 1981 following the departure of founding members Martyn Ware and Ian Craig Marsh, and saw the band shift direction from their previous avant-garde electronic style toward a more pop-friendly, commercial sound led by frontman Philip Oakey.
Joanne Catherall is an English singer who is one of two female vocalists in the English synth-pop band The Human League.
"Human" is a song by English synth-pop band the Human League, released as the lead single from their fifth studio album, Crash (1986). The track, which deals with the subject of infidelity, was written and produced by Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis. The song topped the charts of the United States, becoming the band's second single to top the Billboard Hot 100 after their 1981 single "Don't You Want Me". It also went to number one in Canada while reaching number five in Germany and number eight in the band's native United Kingdom.
Secrets is the eighth studio album recorded by British synthpop band The Human League. It was issued in 2001 by Papillon Records and was the Human League's first studio album in six years. The album was well-received by critics but performed poorly commercially.
Romantic? is the sixth studio album by English synth-pop band the Human League. It was issued by Virgin Records in 1990 and was the band's first album of new material in four years. Romantic? had several producers, most notably Martin Rushent, who worked with the Human League on their biggest commercial success and had walked out of the recording sessions for its 1984 follow-up (Hysteria). Also producing several tracks is Mark Brydon, who would be one half of musical duo Moloko several years later.
Love and Dancing is a remix album by English synth-pop band The Human League, released in July 1982 by Virgin Records. Issued under the band name "The League Unlimited Orchestra" as a nod to Barry White's disco-era Love Unlimited Orchestra, the album was principally the idea and work of producer Martin Rushent and contains dub-style, largely instrumental remixes of songs from the band's multi-platinum selling album Dare (1981), along with a version of the track "Hard Times", which had originally been the B-side of the single "Love Action ". Rushent was inspired by hip hop turntablist Grandmaster Flash and created Love and Dancing on a mixing board. He created vocal effects by cutting up portions of the Dare tape and manually gluing them together. In total, over 2,600 edits feature on the album.
Greatest Hits is a compilation album by the English synth-pop band The Human League, released on 31 October 1988 by Virgin Records. It contains 13 singles released by the band, spanning from their debut single to their most recent album at the time, as well as lead singer Philip Oakey's collaboration with Giorgio Moroder, "Together in Electric Dreams". The album reached No. 3 in the UK.
"Tell Me When" is a song by British synthpop group the Human League, released as the first single from their seventh album, Octopus (1995). Written jointly by lead singer Philip Oakey and Paul C. Beckett, it was recorded at 'Human League Studios', Sheffield same year. The single and the album were produced by Ian Stanley. It peaked at number six on the UK Singles Chart, while reaching number four on the UK Dance Chart. In the US, it peaked at number 31 on the Billboard Hot 100, number 15 on the Billboard Hot Dance Club Play chart and number eight on the Cash Box Top 100.
"One Man in My Heart" is a song by British synth-pop band the Human League, written by Neil Sutton and Philip Oakey. It was released as the second single from the band's seventh album, Octopus (1995), on 6 March 1995. A ballad, the song differs from all previous Human League tracks as the lead vocal is performed by band member Susan Ann Sulley, with spoken-word refrains from Oakey and contrasting backing from the third member, Joanne Catherall. The song received positive reviews from music critics and peaked at number 13 on the UK Singles Chart, eventually spending eight weeks in the charts. In 2001, The Guardian newspaper called it one of the best love songs of the 1990s.
"Love Action " is a song by the British synthpop group The Human League, released as a single in the UK in July 1981. It became the band's first Top 10 success, peaking at number three in the UK Singles Chart.
"I Don't Depend on You" is a disco-influenced song by the British synth-pop group the Human League released under the pseudonym The Men. It was released as a single in the UK in July 1979, but failed to chart. It was written by Philip Oakey, Martyn Ware and Ian Craig Marsh; was produced by Colin Thurston and featured guest backing vocalists Katie Kissoon and Lisa Strike.
"Heart Like a Wheel" is a song by the British synth-pop group The Human League. It was the first single to be taken from the Human League's Romantic? album of 1990, and was written by former band member Jo Callis with Eugene Reynolds and features vocals by Philip Oakey, Joanne Catherall and Susan Ann Sulley; with synthesizer by Neil Sutton. Recorded at Genetic Sound Studios during 1990, it was produced by Martin Rushent who was reconciled with the band after a seven-year gap.
"Night People" is a song by the British synthpop group The Human League, released on 22 November 2010. The track failed to chart.
Wonky is the eighth studio album by Orbital, released on their own ACP label in the UK on 2 April 2012, and exclusively through iTunes in the United States and Canada on 17 April 2012. The album is their first since the Blue Album in 2004 and the first since they reformed in 2008. It features vocals from Zola Jesus and Lady Leshurr.
The Blue Hour is the eighth studio album by English alternative rock band Suede. The album was released on 21 September 2018.
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